Church in Kyrgyzstan set on fire 'by those who don't want Christianity in Muslim country'

A Baptist community in eastern Kyrgyzstan fears for its safety, with its 40 Kyrgyz and Russian members searching for a new place of worship, after unknown attackers set its church building on fire, World Watch Monitor (WWM) reported.

According to WWM, when local radio and TV stations broadcasted news of the arson attack, in Kajisay, a small town in the Issyk-Kul region that borders China, it caused a 'great public outcry'.

World Watch MonitorThe church in Kajisay, Kyrgyzstan, was set on fire.

The organisation reported an investigating police officer as saying that the attack was 'organised by those who don't like your church and Christianity in the midst of a Muslim country'.

Meanwhile, one church member reportedly said: 'We don't believe that the police will find and punish those who burned our church.'

Local Christians said that instead of pursuing the arsonists, police have asked questions about who funded the church building, how many Kyrgyz are members, and why, as ethnic Muslims, they do not go to the local mosque.

World Watch MonitorA Bible survived the arson attack on the Baptist church.

In August last year, WWM reported an attack on a Christian community in which, according to local sources, Islamic radicals sprayed 'We will kill you' across the church's walls.

A source added at the time that 'police and the authorities will stay away from this case because they do not want to help Christians', who make up only six per cent of the population of the country.